What the hell are you smoking? Should we have food police that monitor everyone’s grocery store purchases? Food intake is only one part of obesity. It might be really difficult for you to reconcile this with your nosy self, but you can’t tell from what’s in someone’s cart what their diet actually is anyway.
Oh, me too!
Lighten up and don’t tell me you aren’t nosey or that you have absolutely no assumptions about people (be they stereotyped or not).
I’m not rude - I would be if I treated people badly or said all the things I think.
I’m not arrogant - I’m not sure of your working definition for this, but certainly don’t think I am better than other people, but I do have better eating habbits than many.
I AM nosey - most people are, it’s part of the human condition, that’s why we currently have a proliferation of Reality TV amongst other things. My work is with people which makes me very interested/nosey in others.
Why not? If someone actually has the makings of a meal or many meals (rather than party food and drink), I think we can make an assumption that they will be consuming, if not all, then part of what’s in their trolley.
Yes, food intake is only one part of obesity, but take away the crap and you help out people who aren’t good at food choice and control. I have never seen so much bad food in supermarkets as I’ve seen in the States (yes, there is good stuff in between) but if you compare what is available in supermarkets in other countries you would be surprised.
What makes Italians or French less obese?
The few times this has happened to me, I’ve simply replied that the statement or question is not appropriate. Depending on the response I get, I either drop it or go have a polite talk with the manager, beginning, “I’m a little worried about your cashier, Trixie, because…” This is a training issue. If a cashier is a repeat offender over time, go to another line.
Are you a genius? Because I’m merely smart, and your logic is apparently so advanced that it appears retarded to me.
What is so genius?
I’m going to assume that most of the time, people will be eating what is in their shopping trolleys - why would I not?
Yes, I might be wrong.
Yes, you might buy your veggies and fruit from another shop (like I do) but you are still going to eat the other things in your trolley.
It could be earmarked for a party or you are buying for your restaurant etc, but usually I could have a bash at guessing if this is the case by quantity and contents.
Also, the vast majority of people shopping in supermarkets are there to buy food for themselves, not specifically for parties or for some other purpose.
Clerk: “Wow. you could have at least bought SOMETHING nutritional”
Very heavy Sarcastic retort: “I didn’t? These are BAD for me? Oh My GOD! Thank you SO Much, thank HEAVENS you came along to save me…I don’t know why you’re wasting your Wonderful clairvoyant talents in this deadend job, with your skills and mindreading you could EASILY be on TV…No Really, I owe you my very LIFE!..” And so forth, and so on ad nauseum.
This reminds me of my short-lived (low-paid and dead-end) job as a custom framer.
People brought in all kinds of stupid crap that they wanted custom-framed. Generic, cheesy, mass-market, pathetic poster art. Truly hideous stuff. The kind of thing I wouldn’t hang in my shower.
Is it my place to dictate peoples’ taste in artwork? Would it be okay if I said, "You know, this Degas ballerina poster you’re wanting to frame is going to scream ‘I HAVE NO IMAGINATION OR TASTE AT ALL!’ "
Should I have tried to broaden their minds? Introduce them to what I consider “worthwhile artwork?” Tell them that there are, believe it or not, living artists who are actually talented? Should I have made snarky remarks that I thought were funny, all in the name of boredom and my pathetic wages?
Bullshit.
My job was to frame what they wanted framed, regardless of what I thought of it. I quit the job because I hated it. I never once insulted anyone. I thought all types of shit. I told my co-workers later. I laughed my ass off once at a huge 20" by 24" photograph of a truly hideous baby. I chased my co-workers around the frame shop with it, like it was attacking them. They actually ran. The kid was that ugly and the picture was that massive.
Should I have felt free to say something to the mother of that kid? Because of my low wage and my boredom and my disillusionment with my job? Something “helpful,” maybe, like, “Perhaps you should have chosen to frame a smaller print of this photograph? Because it appears that love truly IS pretty damn blind…”
I don’t give a fuck what cashiers think of their job. It isn’t my fault they have that job, and I don’t give a rat’s ass how bored and abused they are. I don’t abuse them; I’m polite and respectful and I expect the same from them. Jesus. How hard is this to understand?
First of all, I agree. Cashiers shouldn’t say anything about what you’re buying. But if they do:
BIG FUCKING WHOOP.
It’s FUCKING CASHIER!!!
At a FUCKING CONVENIENCE STORE!!!
It’s not your mom telling you you’re a failure. It’s not your spouse telling you you’ve gotten too fat. It’s not your boss telling you your work sucks.
How insecure do you have to be so that a cashier making banter about buying smokes or chips actually gets to you? If it is bugging you, it’s probably because they’re right.
Nosy? What do you think, she’s jotting your name down and then going home and telling all her friends, “this lady came into the store today and bought chips and ice cream.” Do you think she’s calling your insurance company?
From time to time, when I go to the track, I’ll go into the Royal Farms and buy some combination of doughnuts, a six pack, a cigar, and The Daily Racing Form.
If the clerk, at the very least, doesn’t say, “looks like someone has a busy day planned”, I’d assume she’s lobotomized. She’s not nosy. She’s not prying into my business. She’s making a fucking joke because I’m buying doughnuts and beer. Together. And that’s a little bit funny.
It depends on how she says it. If she laughs as she says it, it’s because she thinks it’s funny. (Which it is.)
If she says it with a sneer, like she disapproves of your choices, then it’s going too far and I think you, as the customer, have the right to say something. The clerk has no right to openly judge you on your purchases like that.
Yeah, but again. . .so what if she does?
Either. . .
I’m doing something I feel guilty about, and nothing she says changes that.
Or,
I’m doing something I DON’T feel guilty about, and nothing she says changes THAT.
Remember, she’s a clerk, not clergy.
If the OP is still 14, I get it. Things strangers say to you at that age, especially older people, can get to you, and sit on your mind. Didn’t EVERYBODY outgrow that?
So you’re saying we need to outgrow our desire not to be treated rudely by strangers?
We should outgrow the inability to distinguish harmless banter from actual rudeness.
But, Mel, you’re missing the point: why do you think it’s anybody’s business what someone eats? Why is it anybody’s business at all if someone wants to buy (and ultimately consume) snack food at Kroger instead of carefully chosen selections from the Food Pyramid? It’s a free country, ain’t it? Obesity may be a
[quote unquote]
“national epidemic”–but it’s not a contagious
[quote unquote]
“epidemic”. You can’t “catch” obesity. Nobody else is in danger from the Pringle-holic except the Pringle-holic himself.
So, hanh? 
By the same token, then, if we’re going to have Nutrition And Health Police checking up on our Kroger carts, we ought to have Anti-Smoking Squads to lecture smokers at the checkout, and Vitamin Brigades to make sure everybody’s purchasing some One-A-Days, and have the La Leche League stand there and scowl self-righteously at anybody purchasing infant formula.
And of course we’ll have to bring back Prohibition, because alcohol is sooo bad for you…
You have stores in your neighborhood that bags your groceries?
Does the gas station attendant pump your gas, check your oil, and clean your windows too? How about your doctor? Does he make house calls?
I never see baggers at the grocery store.
Is this really that strange to you? I get my groceries bagged by some kid or other at every place from Wal-Mart to Whole Foods. I don’t especially care, and I’d happily bag them myself if there was no bagger, but there is one at 95% of the plces I go.
This is why I always go to the self-checkout line.
I’m a new member but I’ve been hanging around this place quite awhile. I’ve seen an untold number of rants about customer service, from both sides of the register. I think this is one of those issues that will never be settled. That said, I have to weigh in. I apologize in advance for the length of this post – I’ve been holding it in for some time.
In the interest of total disclosure, let me admit that I work retail for fun. Really. I have an office job. Mid-level management, great pay, rewarding career, all that. The downside is I’m a telecommuter, so I work all day, every day, alone. My office is a little room off the back of my house. Most of my day is spent on the computer, with a few phone calls here and there. I could spend a whole work day without speaking to anyone. After work, I rejoin the family, cook dinner, read, whatever. I could go days without leaving the house. So I started to get a little stir crazy, and decided to take a part-time job at the bookstore. Not because we needed the money – in fact, my whole paycheck goes right back to the store. But because I needed something to do, and I like books.
My biggest problem with what I’ve read in this thread is the sentiment of, “Who cares what she thinks? She just a cashier.” Just a cashier. No. Just a person, just like you. A person who just wants to be treated with some basic respect. Just like you.
Yes, there are cashiers who are rude, and they have a litany of reasons to justify (but not to excuse) their rudeness. And there are customers who are rude, and also have their reasons, again, to justify, but never excuse, their behavior.
I’ll say it again – the behavior is never excusable. On either side. What does anyone want when dealing with another person, in any situation? Recognition as a fellow human being. Which means, I believe, to be treated respectfully. When you come up to my cash register, and I say, “Hi, how are you?” and you toss a book at me and say nothing, I have not been treated respectfully. When I walk up to your cash register, and you say, “I can’t believe you’re buying this crap,” I have not been treated respectfully.
We can’t control other people. We can only control how we choose to respond. I maintain that we should take the high ground. After you toss your book at me, I will still be pleasant. I will still smile, and tell you that I hope you enjoy your evening. After you tell me that I’m buying crap, I will still smile; make a joke, and thank you for taking the time to sell it to me.
Regardless of which side of the counter you are standing on, you are not better than I am. Nor am I better than you. We are equals. I will treat you as such, and hope that you will return the courtesy. And if you don’t, I will be grateful that when I get home, you won’t be there.
K, Twinkie, I’m gonna cut you some slack, seeing how you’re new here and all. But I’ve got to tell you, there’s no reason to go and be so reasonable and well-spoken in the Pit. Cast your pearls elsewhere, K?
Sweetie, I think you need to read some Emily Post or Miss Manners. Miss Manners in particular takes an extremely hard line on offering up commentary on what others are eating. You may disagree with her - and those of us who agree with her that we would be miffed at someone who offered up their “health advice” on the basis of what’s in our grocery cart. But suggesting that it’s not “actual rudeness” is just away to avoid having to make that argument. And while “actual rudeness” can’t really be rigorously defined, I take some comfort in knowing that etiquette experts agree with me on this point.
I don’t think anyone is saying that cashiers aren’t people. (If you didn’t notice, about half of the people in the thread have worked as cashiers!) I think the idea was more a recommendation not to worry about what any random stranger might advise you to do, whatever their social status.
Me, though, I expect politeness from people working in retail establishments, just as I was polite when I worked in one. So while it would be bad enough for another shopper to treat me to their discourse on what’s wrong with my diet, it’s particularly galling for someone who’s being paid to be polite to me to be so rude.